The week before last I bred my two betta with ease and little effort from my part, besides the conditioning. I thought maybe I just got lucky, but as of today they bred again. I have tried breeding multiple times with the usual method (half tank with the female encase for a few days) before, but it never happened for me. So after multiple failed attempt, i tried something new. I kept on thinking to myself what was the use of keeping the female in the jar/divider/what ever one may use. After reading how "OldFishLady" breed her bettas in a natural planted tank, i tried the same thing. I was a bit skeptical at first so I only kept the tank half full and no substrate, but densely planted. After i conditioned both the bettas, I just threw them into the tank. They spawned the morning after.

If you have followed me in my other post, all of the fry from that patch had died, I have no clue as to why, but I'm pretty positive it had nothing to do with the set-up and more of maybe a parasite, young female, or food issue with the VE.

A few days ago, I cleaned up the tank and set it up differently. "OldFishLady" had spawn her bettas successfully in a natural planted tank, so I thought maybe i should stop being a skeptic. I didn't go with the full Diana Walstad NPT, but I had some left over eco-complete and used that as the substrate. I filled the tank all the way up and conditioned it with IAL. For flora I had two mother Java Fern, so I threw them both in there, as well as two large floating Water Wisteria, several bundles of 'foot long' hornwort, and some anubias on a drift wood. I threw the conditioned pair in there yesterday and I woke up to the pair spawning once more.

One would think that the water depth would be too much of a hassle for the male to keep up with the eggs when they come out, but actually its not as bad as people believe it to be. Because there's more water depth it takes longer for the eggs to sink all the way to the bottom, thus giving more time for the male to collect them and preventing them from getting lost in the substrate, though I doubt it would be a problem if an egg did so happen to sink to the bottom because of the color contrast between the egg and the substrate (white egg, black sub).

I hope this time I will have better luck with rearing the fry. I didn't start this thread to try to prove that one method is better than the other, but more so of "theres more than one way" kind of thing and mainly because I am really excited as this is my second successful spawn and wanted to share this adventure with my fellow betta enthuses.

I hope this time I will have better luck with rearing the fry. I didn't start this thread to try to prove that one method is better than the other, but more so of "theres more than one way" kind of thing and mainly because I am really excited as this is my second successful spawn and wanted to share this adventure with my fellow betta enthuses.

You got that right - everyone has their own method. And heavily planted in shallow tubs seems to work best for me. But sometimes I use iceboxes almost filled to the top.

Congrats on the new spawn.....lots of good ways to spawn this species...it finding what works best for you and the breeders........

I found this method to work best for me in several ways-prevents premature egg drops by using natural dividers with live plants, production of microorganism for fry food from live plants, quality water due to filtration from the live plants...all help to create a good environment that give the fry a good first start and strong immune response

As you found out water level doesn't cause any problems-usually low water level is used because the male has really heavy fins and struggles to swim to and fro after the eggs-but if he has been properly conditioned he shouldn't tire due to egg gathering and healthy eggs once in the nest shouldn't fall very often either and with the added room for the male he won't by accident disturb the nest causing the eggs to fall...or at least that has been my experience........

When I gave a male the choice between low water level and high water level in a container I had outside sitting on a slope..... he picked the deeper water......

I don't wait on a nest-often mine will spawn an make a nest as the egg numbers grow-I let them pick what they want to use and try to keep everything in the tank natural-almost always he will pick water lettuce for his nesting site with the added benefit of microorganism that form on the roots as well as a place for the fry to rest as they hatch and start the free swim stage....

The biggest problem I have with my spawning tanks...is that I sometimes can't find all the fry and oddly enough when I do transfer the fry as they grow and using the tank again to spawn....... the new pair will not eat any of the fry I left in the tank due to not finding them or at least not all of them...I always pull a fry or two, three out later to keep them from eating the newborns...lol......

Thank you indjo, I've been wanting to try those tube outdoors too, but the weather in my area is still undecided if she wants to end this love affair shes got going on. One day its hot, the next its cold.

And thank you Oldfishlady, it was you who actually inspired this set-up. As you said, mine were the same with the nest, it was the size of a penny when they started and when the spawning was finish the nest have grew into the size of a quarter. I wanted to keep it as natural as possible, but I couldn't get my hands on some water lettuce and end up using the "half styrofoam cup", which still did the job.

I used this same method. I released the male first, observed their behavior while she was still in the jar for five minutes then released the female. It took my pair two days to spawn. My only caution to those that may try this is to observe the pair for at least 15 - 20 minutes before you walk away. After that, be patient. They will figure it out.

Good luck on raising your fry. Water changes seem to be the key for me. And I add a little bit of salt with each water change.